I have an appeal pending before the Illinois Appellate Court on the following issue:

My case is a conviction for aggravated battery of a correctional officer. In fact, I had been assaulted and battered by Cook County Department of Corrections Sergeant Anthony Salemi on May 16, 2005. He falsified his records, and he knowingly wrongfully filed a criminal complaint against Plaintiff falsely alleging I attacked him, in retaliation for me complaining about the Cook County Department of Corrections violating my civil rights. (Denying Constitutional and statutory rights to medical care, access to courts, free brief phone call to family and attorney)

I was in jail for a 30 day sentence for criminal contempt because I told Judge Kathleen Pantle that she was violating the law in the pending fraudulent case involving a fraudulent charge of Medicaid vendor fraud (trial scheduled for February 17, 2009 rm 207 criminal court building 26th and California – all are invited) and had no jurisdiction and then said I was leaving to preserve the issue for appeal and she found me in contempt when I turned around and attempted to leave the courtroom quietly.

Sgt. Salemi stated that when he entered my cell, after sending away the female unit officer (in violation of rules that male officers may not enter female cells alone except in emergency), I attacked him while in a wheelchair and forcing my way through the door by ramming him with my wheelchair “skinning his shins” and then after this knocked him down and he stood up, “kicking him in the chest with my RIGHT leg.” This is despite the fact that I have a partial right hemiparesis with impairment of my RIGHT leg so that I can not kick it with force above the waist, the wheelchair was broken and difficult to move, I have congenital injury to the spine causing life-long weak arms and shoulders making it difficult to move the wheelchair forcefully, and I was on the sixth day of a dry hunger strike (protesting denial of access to courts and denial of medical care), intensely dehydrated and unable to stand for more than a few moments due to weakness from the dehydration. My physicians gave unrebutted testimony affirming these facts. The state had no expert witnesses or physician witnesses.

Sgt. Salemi lunged in, grabbed my neck choking me, then flung me out of the wheel chair while pulling the wheelchair from under me causing large contusions to the back and inner thighs (3 X 5 and 4 X 6 inches) as well as bruises on my arm in the form of his fingers, contused knee upon which I landed, and a severely contused toe that got caught in the wheelchair. All of this was documented and the jury ignored it.

I was wrongfully convicted because of a biased jury. The jury became biased because of extreme Nifong-like prosecutorial misconduct by Assistant States Attorneys Andrew Dalkin and John Maher, and by outrageous denial of due process and abuse of judicial discretion by Judge Joseph Kazmierski, all of which grossly denied me a fair trial.

I was illegally sentenced to prison instead of probation, in violation of Cunningham v. California, 127 S. Ct. 856 (2007), and the Statutes of the State of Illinois.

At CCDOC and IDOC I was illegally abused and punished for refusing to walk (IDOC staff falsely claiming I was faking my multiple medical conditions and physical handicap) during the reception process, including a life-threatening assault on me with an ammonia inhalant (purportedly given to prove I was faking a collapse and asthma attack, but which was NOT documented in records at IDOC), but which exacerbated the attack, caused brief unconsciousness and is contraindicated in asthma, as well as denial of medical care. The IDOC staff are attempting to conceal the documents about Plaintiff’s reception events at IDOC in order to cover-up their official misconduct and ADA violations, in refusing to release the reception summary to me.

The habeas petition contains all the details of the perjured testimony by Sgt. Salemi and other Sheriff officers as well as the proof of my innocence and their falsification of records. My habeas petition contains all pertinent references to the transcripts and record on appeal and all issues on appeal.

The Illinois Appellate Court 1st District has now four times denied my motions to compel the court reporters to prepare a free set of transcripts and file them with the court so that my appeal can move forward. The court reporters have refused this direct order of both the trial court and appellate courts. Judge Sheila O’Brien denied another such motion on 2-5-09. This is unconstitutional and a violation of her oath of office that amounts to felony theft of honest services and conspiracy to violate my civil rights under color of law.

Judge O’Brien is OBLIGATED by U.S. Supreme Court previous rulings (stare decisis) to ensure that I am NOT prevented from filing transcripts for my appeal. Failure to enforce her court’s and the trial courts orders is a dereliction of duty and her oath of office that amounts to the federal crime of theft of honest services. It also is a deliberate attempt to impede my appeal which is a Constitutional right. This amounts to the federal felony crime of violation of civil rights under color of law and conspiracy to violate civil rights under color of law.

Judge O’Brien has brought the court into disrepute because of her incompetent, and/or purposeful, and/or malicious in violation of the Constitution’s mandate that convicted persons have a right to an appeal. She should be impeached.

Federal Judge Coar agrees with this in general because he has ruled that the actions of the Illinois Appellate Court amount to a State willful waiver of their right to insist that I exhaust state remedies (appeals) before proceeding with a Federal Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus to overturn this wrongful conviction based on actual innocence, as well as grotesque prosecutorial and judicial misconduct.

Please consider assisting me with donations to my legal fund and showing up for trial on 2-17-09 on the last charge I am defending. Judges tend to follow the law more and make less unconstitutional rulings when they have an audience. That is why I promote the concept of court watchers. Juries tend to have less bias against the Defendant when they see family and others showing the defendant support by filling the gallery.

Unfortunately my family is small, ill, and distant and no one can come to court. Any support in any fashion in my legal, political, and personal health struggles is appreciated.